Ingnition does nothing after a boat trip

trobinson017

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 12, 2004
Messages
183
Boat: 1999 SeaSwirl Striper
Motor: 1999 Johnson Oceanpro 130hp

Ok. here's the scoop. I took my boat out today and went for a short trip of about 2 hours, mostly slow/idle speeds. However, there were a couple parts where I went full speed and encountered trawler wake that I slowed down for. One in particular I didn't slow down enough and my hull banged over the wake pretty hard. After I got home and got the boat on the lift I went to flush the motor with rabbit ears. But when I turned the key....nothing! The gauges all turn on and the battery voltage gauge shows full charge. My fish finder turns on. Everything seems to work except the ignition. I pulled the cowling off the motor and checked to be sure there were no disconnected wires but then I'm not certain which wires relate to the ignition. The cables to the starter and solenoid are good. I also checked the fuses and the terminal block.

Any suggestions on what else to check? I'm Googling stuff and reading other online resources but I always get excellent help here at iboats.com.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

slasmith1

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Dec 2, 2008
Messages
1,028
Re: Ingnition does nothing after a boat trip

make sure it is all the way in neutral wiggle the shifter to make sure.
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
27,030
Re: Ingnition does nothing after a boat trip

Troll, Make sure it is in neutral. Wiggle the throttle to make sure.

Check the fuse on the motor. It should be good, or you would have no juice anywhere. Put a voltmeter on the starter solenoid yellow/red wire. That should get +12V when key is in start position.
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
27,030
Re: Ingnition does nothing after a boat trip

One more thing. If the ign key is mounted on the dashboard, look at the back of it, under the dash. Maybe the starter solenoid wire(yellow/red) fell off.
 

SuzukiChopper

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Oct 10, 2004
Messages
782
Re: Ingnition does nothing after a boat trip

Yup, make sure it's fully in neutral and your safety shutoff lanyard is connected properly.
 

trobinson017

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 12, 2004
Messages
183
Re: Ingnition does nothing after a boat trip

THanks for the replies. Turns out my neutral button wasn't engaging fully, even tho the throttle felt like it was. I didn't do anything but take the cover off to examine the button. I put it back together and tried again and it worked! So maybe it needs a shot of WD-40 or something.. But if it happens again I now know where to look first.

Thanks again!
 
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